Winds

Due to horizontal abnormalities, air moves from

the areas of high pressure to the areas of low
pressure. This horizontally moving air is called
wind. Blowing winds are an effort on the part of
nature to balance the pressure differences at
various. Places. The air blowing almost vertically
is called air current. Winds and air currents
jointly complete a cycle such as Hadley cell.
 The direction of surface winds is usually controlled by the
pressure gradient and rotation of the earth. Because of the rotation
of the earth along its axis, the winds are deflected does not blow at
right angle of the isobars. The force which deflects the direction of
winds is called Coriolis force. With the increasing wind velocity,
Coriolis force also increases. Because of Coriolis force, all winds are
deflected to the right (clockwise) in the Northern Hemisphere,
while they are deflected to the left (anti-clockwise) in the Southern
Hemisphere with respect to the rotating earth. Since this
phenomenon was firstly proved by a French scientist Ferrel, it is
called Ferrel’s Law.
Types of winds
Based on their characteristic, winds are
classified as-
1.Prevailing or Permanent or Planetary
winds
2.Seasonal winds
3.Local winds
•Permanent or Planetary winds
The winds blowing almost in the same direction throughout the
year are called permanent or planetary winds. Trade winds,
Westerlies and Polar winds are included under it.
Trade winds: These are the permanent winds blowing in both
the hemispheres from the sub-tropical high-pressure belts to the
equatorial low pressure belt. The word Trade is derived from a
German word which means a fixed path or track.
Westerlies: These are the permanent winds blowing
from the sub-tropical high pressure belts to the sub-polar
low pressure belts, in both the hemispheres. The general
direction of Westerlies is South West to North East in the
Northern Hemispheres and North West to South East in the
Southern Hemisphere. These winds are best developed in
the 40˚-65˚latitudes. In this zone of Southern Hemisphere,
because of lack of land masses and dominance of ocean,
their velocity is so high that they are called Roaring Forties
(40˚s), Furious Fifties( 50˚s ) and Shrieking Sixties(60˚s).
Polar winds: Winds blowing from the polar high
pressure belts to the sub-polar low pressure belts, in
both the hemispheres, are called polar winds.
•Seasonal winds
The winds which change their direction of
blowing with the changing seasons are
called seasonal winds. They are also called
temporary winds. Monsoon winds, sea
breeze, land breeze, mountain breeze and
valley breeze are included under it.
•Local winds
These winds blow due to local variation in the
temperature and pressure, and influence a very small
area. On the one hand the hot local winds raise the
temperature of the area and on the other the cold
local winds sometimes bring the temperature of the
affected area below the freezing points. These local
winds blow in the lower layers of the Troposphere.
Some important local winds are-
•Chinook: Chinook means the snow
– eater (adopted from the language of
Red Indians). This is the hot and dry
wind blowing along the eastern slope
of the Rockies and covers an area from
the southern part of Colorado in the
south to British Columbia in Canada in
the North. Due to its effect, the snow
melts and green grass sprouts even in
the winter. This wind is helpful for the
animal rearing as it makes the
grasslands snow free.
•Foehn: This is similar to
Chinook and blows along
the northern slope of the
Alps. It affects the
Switzerland most. It melts
the snow, makes the
weather pleasant and
helps in early ripening of
the grapes.
•Sirocco: This is a warm, dry and dusty wind
which blows in northerly direction from the
Sahara Desert and after crossing over the
Mediterranean Sea reaches Italy, Spain etc.
where it is also known as Blood rain because of
its reddish sand brought along with it from
Sahara desert. It is very much destructive to
agricultural and fruit crops, There are different
local names for Sirocco in Africa eg., Khamsin in
Egypt, Gibli in Libya and Chilli in Tunisia.
In Spain and Canary, and Madeira islands, it is
known as Leveche and Leste respectively.
•Black Roller: These are the warm and dry
dusty winds, blowing in the great plains of
North America.
•Black Roller: These
are the warm and dry
dusty winds, blowing in
the great plains of
North America.
•Yoma: This is
the warm and
dry wind like
Santa Ana,
blowing in
Japan.
•Temporal:
This is the
monsoon
wind blowing
in the Central
America.
•Simoom: This is
the warm and dry
wind blowing in
the Arabian Desert.
It cause dust
storms and
obstructs visibility.
•Simoom: This is
the warm and dry
wind blowing in the
Arabian Desert. It
cause dust storms
and obstructs
visibility.
•Samoon: This is
the wind blowing in
the Kurdistan region
of Iran and Iraq and
has the
characteristics
similar to Foehn.
•Shamal: This
is the warm,
dry and sandy
wind, blowing
in the deserts
of Iran, Iraq
and UAE.
•Seistan: This
is the high
velocity
northerly wind
blowing in the
eastern parts
of Iran in
summer.
•Habbob: This is the
fast blowing wind full
of dust and sand,
blowing in the northern
parts or Sudan,
especially near
Khartoum. It obstructs
visibility and causes
rain with thunder
storm.
•Karaburan: These
are the dust laden
fast blowing winds
in the Tarim Basin
in the Central Asia.
These winds blow
towards the North-
East.
•Koimbang:
These are winds
similar to
Foehn, blowing
in Java
(Indonesia) and
are harmful to
the tobacco
crop.
•Harmattan: This is the
warm and dry wind
blowing from north-east
and east to the western in
the Sahara desert. The
weather becomes
suddenly dry and
pleasant in the western
coast of Africa, at the
arrival of Harmattan.
Therefore, it is called
Doctor in the Guinea
coastal.
•Brick
fielder: This is
the warm and
dry wind
blowing in the
Victoria
province of
Australia.
•Norwester:
This is the
warm, dry and
gusty wind
blowing in
northern New
Zealand.
•Loo: This is a
hot and dry wind
blowing in the
northern India
from the North
West and west to
the east. It is
sometimes called
heat wave.
•Santa
Ana: This is
the warm
and dry wind
blowing in
California
(USA).
•Zonda: This is a
warm wind blowing
in Argentina and
Uruguay, from the
Andes to the plains.
This is also called
cool Foehn.
•Mistral: This is the cold
local wind blowing in Spain
and France from north-west
to south-east direction.
While blowing through the
narrow valley of the Rhone
River, they become stormy
northerly cold winds. The
arrival of Mistral causes
sudden drop in air
temperature to below
freezing point.
•Bora: It is an
extremely cold
and dry north-
easterly wind
blowing along
the shore of the
Adriatic Sea. It is
similar to mistral
and affects Italy
and Yugoslavia.
•Blizzard: It is a violent
stormy cold polar wind
laden with dry snow and is
prevalent in north and
south Polar Regions. These
winds affect Canada and
USA. On the arrival of
Blizzards, the air
temperature drops below
the freezing point. In the
Tundra and Siberian regions
of Russia, it is known as
Purga and Burran,
respectively.
•Norte: This is
the polar wind
blowing in the
Central America
in winter. This is
known as Norther
or Northern in
the southern
USA.
•Pampero:
These are the
cold polar winds
blowing very fast
in the pampas
region of South
America.
•Gregale: These
are the winter
winds blowing in
the Central part
of the
Mediterranean
region of the
southern Europe.
•Juran: These are
the cold and dry
winds blowing
from the Jura
Mountains
(Switzerland) to
the Geneva Lake
(Italy), in night.
•Maestro: These
are the north-
westerly winds
blowing in the
Central part of the
Mediterranean
region.
•Puna:
This is the
cold local
wind in the
Andes
region.
•Papagayo:
These are the
fast blowing
north-easterly
cold and dry
winds in the
coastal region of
Mexico.
•Ponant:
These are the
cold westerly
winds blowing
in the
Mediterranean
region,
specially the
Corsica coast.
•Virasen:
These are the
sea breezes
blowing along
the western
coasts of Peru
and Chile.
•Southern
Burster: This is
a fast blowing
cold and dry
wind in New
South Wales
(Australia).
•Bise: It is
an
extremely
cold and dry
wind in
France.
•Levanter
: It is a
strong
easterly
cold wind
in southern
Spain.